Govt decision unjustified?
Governor’s powers on staff pleasChandigarh, May 5
Did Haryana Governor Babu Parmanand accept in "wholesale" the memorials submitted by employees, compelling the State Cabinet to take unprecedented action of taking away his powers on them?
The Cabinet decided to vest these powers in one of its sub-committees
on May 1.

3 Independents opt out of poll frayFatehabad, May 5
Three Independent candidates today withdrew their nominations for the bypoll to this constituency, scheduled for May 21. They are Mrs Suchitra Singh, Mr Avtar Singh and Mr Aatam Prakash. With this, 15 candidates are left in the fray.

No rift in Haryana
Cong, claims HoodaYamunanagar, May 5
There is no infighting in the Haryana Congress, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, leader of the Congress in Haryana Legislative Assembly has claimed, talking to newsmen here yesterday. Mr Hooda said all Congressmen were united to give a befitting reply to the INLD and the Haryana Vikas Party in the Fatehabad
byelection.

HIGH COURT
Haryana to give facilities to panel on DabwaliChandigarh, May 5
Nearly three months after a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered the appointment of one-member Commission under Justice
T.P. Garg to assess compensation for the victims of the Dabwali fire incident, an application alleging lack of infrastructure for the Commission was today disposed of after the state claimed the provision of all the facilities.

Ambala air base vulnerable to ‘alien’ surveillanceAmbala, May 5
The recent arrest of two Pakistan-based ISI agents from Ambala Cantonment has once again exposed the laxity in the security set-up of the Air Force Station here. Located along the National Highway No. 1 and the National Highway No. 22, the air base, which is one of the most sensitive areas, is visible not only to the passers-by on these roads, but also to those residing in the neighbouring areas.

Stories from Haryana towns falling in the
National Capital Region are put in NCR Tribune.

Promote Sanskrit, says JoshiJind, May 5
The Union Human Resource Development Minister, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, has stressed the need for promoting Sanskrit and has said that scientific researches have revealed that Sanskrit can prove to be the most useful language for computers.

State honour for physically challengedAmbala, May 5
Disability is no handicap. This holds true for the seven physically challenged persons, who were honoured for their outstanding contribution in their respective fields, at a state-level function in Panchayat Bhavan, here today.

They do not get deterred by their handicap. Physically challenged persons, who were honoured at a state-level function in Ambala on Monday.
— Photo Neeraj Chopra

Fall in water level may hit farmersSirsa, May 5
The level of groundwater in some regions of Haryana is falling, which is likely to hit farmers, who are already facing a financial crunch due to shrinking profit margins in crop cultivation. The groundwater level is falling at an alarming rate and the land may soon become barren. In some areas, the water level has gone down by about 40 ft.

Roadways staff hold rallyKurukshetra, May 5
Members of the Sarv Karmchari Sangh-affiliated Haryana Roadways Workers Union held a rally in front of the New Bus Stand here yesterday in protest against the proposed privatisation of the Haryana Roadways Department.

Woman run over by trainAmbala, May 5
A woman was run over by the Shatabdi Express at a railway crossing close to the Ambala City railway station today morning. The deceased was identified as
Deepa, a resident of Ambala City. Her husband is a businessman in the grain market.

Chandigarh, May 5
Did Haryana Governor Babu Parmanand accept in "wholesale" the memorials submitted by employees, compelling the State Cabinet to take unprecedented action of taking away his powers on them?

The Cabinet decided to vest these powers in one of its sub-committees on May 1. The decision was not incorporated in the official press note issued after the Cabinet meeting. When newsmen came to know about the decision, official sources tried "unofficially" to sell the line that the Cabinet was forced to take this harsh decision because the Governor had accepted the memorials in "wholesale". This, they said, would affect the government efforts to inculcate discipline among its employees.

What is the factual position? It seems Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala was either misled or he was not fully briefed by his advisers before he okayed the Cabinet agenda. Because the factual position does not support the "unofficial contention" of the government.

According to sources, during his tenure of about two-and-a-half years, Babu Parmanand decided only 54 memorials, not a very large number considering the strength of the Government employees. Even out of these 54 memorials, the Governor agreed with the government on 50 memorials. This included one memorial submitted by a woman doctor, who had represented against punishment awarded to her. The government, including the Health Secretary; the Health Minister and the Chief Minister, had recommended that since the doctor had apologised, the punishment should be revoked.

Babu Parmanand disagreed with the government only in four cases. Two of these cases related to the dismissal of the employees, while the other two concerned some punishment awarded to the memorialists.

At least in one case, the government did not carry out the directive of the Governor, opening itself to the possible charge of committing constitutional impropriety, if not misdemeanour. The memorialist, Mr Phool Chand, was employed as the Block Development and Panchayat Officer(BDPO) in Kurukshetra district. His senior officer filed a criminal complaint against the Editor of a local newspaper and Mr Phool Chand was made a co-accused.

The court upheld the complaint and convicted Mr Phool Chand in 1998. Subsequent to his conviction, Mr Phool Chand was dismissed from service. After exhausting all avenues with the government, he filed a memorial. His plea was that his conviction was stayed by a superior court just 13 days after the lower court had convicted him. He also stated that the conviction was stayed before he was sacked.

The Governor accepted his memorial in mid-2001, and directed the government to
reinstate the employee and place him under suspension till his appeal pending in the court was disposed of. However, the government did not implement his directive. The case was referred to the then Legal Remembrancer, who is believed to have advised the government that though it might not be administratively proper, there was no legal hitch in implementing the Governor's directive.

The government sent back the case to the Governor along with the legal opinion for reconsideration. Sources say Babu Parmanand, who is a Gold Medallist in law from Aligarh Muslim University, quoted several court judgements to support his directive to reinstate the sacked employee. The directive has not yet been implemented.

It is believed that this is the case which precipitated the controversial Cabinet decision, which may have been "prompted" by a senior officer responsible for the implementation of the directive.

Another case in which the Governor disagreed with the government and accepted the memorial, related to a helper, Mr Chuhar Singh, in the Transport Department, who was sacked on a charge of stealing one litre of lubricant. Perhaps while ordering his reinstatement, the Governor might have felt that the punishment was not in consonance with the quantum of guilt and a record warning could be enough.

In another case, Babu Parmanand ordered that an adverse remark made by the Chief Minister in the annual confidential report(ACR) of an engineer, Mr K.K. Singal, be expunged because no such remark was written by his immediate superiors. Later, the government promoted Mr Singal as Chief Engineer.

Sources say in the fourth case the Governor accepted the plea of Mr R.K. Arora, Executive Engineer in the Irrigation Department, and ordered that the recorded warning given to him should be withdrawn.

The expunging of adverse remarks from the ACR of an employee is not an unprecedented act by the Governor. Sources point out that when former Chief Minister, Bansi Lal had downgraded the ACRs of a large number of officers(according to an estimate about 100 officers), one of the first tasks performed by the Chautala Government after coming to power was to expunge these adverse remarks from the ACRs.

Fatehabad, May 5
Three Independent candidates today withdrew their nominations for the bypoll to this constituency, scheduled for May 21. They are Mrs Suchitra Singh, Mr Avtar Singh and Mr Aatam Prakash. With this, 15 candidates are left in the fray.

Meanwhile, some local leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party offered their support to the INLD candidate, Mrs Swatantra Chowdhary, and joined her campaign. Mr Ranbir Chowdhary, son of former BJP MLA Balbir Chowdhary and others were present at the meeting addressed by INLD MLA Abhey Singh Chautala today at Majra village.

The INLD continued its poll campaign in the constituency. Mr Sampat Singh, state Finance Minister Abhey and Ajay Chautala and Mr Ashok Arora, another minister, joined the campaign.

The Haryana Vikas Party hailed the decision of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) to support the HVP nominee in the byelection. The CPM nominee, Mr Krishan Swaroop, also campaigned in various villages and appealed for votes.

Yamunanagar, May 5
There is no infighting in the Haryana Congress, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, leader of the Congress in Haryana Legislative Assembly has claimed, talking to newsmen here yesterday. Mr Hooda said all Congressmen were united to give a befitting reply to the INLD and the Haryana Vikas Party in the Fatehabad byelection.

Mr Hooda said Mrs Sonia Gandhi was their undisputed leader when asked whether he would join hands with Mr Bhajan Lal to ensure the victory of the Congress candidate from Fatehabad, Mr Hooda said, Mr Dura Ram had been selected by the Congress high command to contest the election and he would campaign for him.

He said all Congress leaders would go to Fatehabad to canvass for Mr Dura Ram.

Mr Hooda said only the Congress could protect the interests of people. He lashed out at the Chautala government for the deteriorating law and order situation in the state.

Mr Hooda alleged that the state government had failed pay the sugarcane growers. He said farmers were passing through a bad phase as the rates of agricultural inputs had been inflated manifold in the past four years of the NDA government’s rule.

HIGH COURT
Haryana to give facilities to panel on Dabwali
Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, May 5
Nearly three months after a Division Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court ordered the appointment of one-member Commission under Justice T.P. Garg to assess compensation for the victims of the Dabwali fire incident, an application alleging lack of infrastructure for the Commission was today disposed of after the state claimed the provision of all the facilities.

In an affidavit submitted before the Bench headed by Chief Justice Mr B.K. Roy, Haryana’s Under Secretary (Home) stated that the facilities, including the staff and telephone, had already been provided. For the purpose, over Rs 17 lakh had been sanctioned.

The Dabwali Fire Tragedy Victims’ Association, in their application, alleged that the Commission was contacted for the settlement of their claims, but nothing could be done because of improper infrastructure.

The Bench, while issuing the directions regarding the appointment of Commission, had ruled that the report should be submitted in the matter preferably within six months. The association had initially sought directions for granting compensation to the families of the deceased, besides free treatment for the injured, including plastic surgery. Several photographs of the victims had also been enclosed along with the petition.

Notice issued

Allowing an application for impleading Bharatiya Janta Party’s Haryana unit President Rattan Lal Kataria as a respondent in a petition challenging the selection for allotting LPG distributorship at Pinjore, a Division Bench of the High Court on Monday issued notice to the respondent.

In his application, Mr Parveen Kumar Paul had earlier claimed that Mr Kataria’s name was left out by mistake even though the selection had been challenged on the ground that successful candidate Jatinder Kumar of Shahpur was placed number one on the merit due to political considerations. Giving details, the petitioner had asserted that Jatinder Kumar was Mr Kataria’s brother-in-law.

Claiming to have been better qualified, Mr Paul had earlier contended that Jatinder Kumar was placed on merit in violation of the terms and eligibility conditions. The case will now come up before the Bench, comprising Mr Justice Swatanter Kumar and Mr Justice Mehtab Singh Gill, on July 22.

Grant sought

Two years after a soldier’s journey ended before his destination during Operation Rahshak in the Kashmir valley, his mother has moved the High Court seeking directions to the state of Haryana and other respondents for granting ex-gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh. Soldier Varinder Singh was on his way to brigade headquarters with arms and ammunition recovered from a terrorist hideout when an explosion killed him.

Taking up his petition, a Division Bench comprising Mr Justice V.K. Bali and Mr Justice Viney Mittal, on Monday issued notice of motion for July 28. It was filed under the legal aid scheme of the All-India Ex-servicemen Welfare Association through President Bhim Sen Sehgal.

In her petition, petitioner Surinder Kaur had earlier contended that though the soldier’s death was declared a battle casuality, she was yet to receive the payment from the Haryana government.

The reason behind her claim’s rejection was beyond her comprehension, she had contended. A letter sent to her by the authorities simply had written, “Varinder Singh of 8 Rashtriya Riffles is not covered under the laid down policy…. He is ineligible for ex-gratia grant from the state government”.

Ambala, May 5
The recent arrest of two Pakistan-based ISI agents from Ambala Cantonment has once again exposed the laxity in the security set-up of the Air Force Station here. Located along the National Highway No. 1 and the National Highway No. 22, the air base, which is one of the most sensitive areas, is visible not only to the passers-by on these roads, but also to those residing in the neighbouring areas.

Although, the Central Government had given the district administration Rs 50,000 for putting up iron sheets as a cover on the Central jail bypass bridge connecting the two highways, it has failed to provide the desired cover. Owing to low height of the iron sheets, coupled with inadequate trees along the highway, the activities at the air base can be viewed by those travelling on the Ambala-Chandigarh road and those residing in the double-storeyed houses in Baldev Nagar, which is situated on the eastern side of the station. The aeroplanes standing at the air base and their routine flights can be viewed from a distance.

In fact, a major part of the air base is also visible from the Alexandra road that leads to the main gate of the station in the cantonment area. The recent cutting and pruning of trees on the pretext of keeping the surroundings clean has only made the air base more visible. No wonder, ISI agents also have their eyes on the military areas in Ambala. In fact, one of the spies was arrested while he was trying to take pictures of the cantonment from across the barbed wires.

Within a span of nine months, three ISI agents have been arrested by the police, two from Ambala Cantonment and one from Noida, for allegedly providing vital information about these cantonments to Pakistan. But this does not seem to bother the Air Force authorities, who only try to conceal information.

A Pakistani spy, Salim, was arrested from Noida on July 2, 2002, while another spy, Masood Akhtar Ahmed, was arrested on March 26 this year from Ambala. The maps and vital documents seized from them only prove that the detective agencies are closely watching the military activities at these cantonments. A floppy seized from Masood reportedly contains some vital information about sensitive Army areas and bridges in Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan. The spy was arrested when he was trying to send an e-mail to Pakistan from a cyber cafe on the Nicholson road in the cantonment.

The four air crashes in the past one year brought the issues of security at these air bases and their proximity to the residential areas in focus, but the authorities concerned have not done anything concrete in this regard.

In fact, the air base located in the oldest military cantonment had been a target of Pakistan one of the Indo-Pak wars, but it just got saved as the bomb fell on a nearby church. But the authorities appear to have taken no lesson and the security around the station continues to be insufficient.

The Air Force authorities, on their part, continue to blame the civil administration for its failure to check coming up of new colonies in the immediate periphery of the strike bases of defence forces. They maintain that when the air base was planned there was hardly any population in its vicinity and now there is an unplanned and haphazard growth all around the station. As the game of passing the buck goes on, nothing tangible has come out so far.

Jind, May 5
The Union Human Resource Development Minister, Dr Murli Manohar Joshi, has stressed the need for promoting Sanskrit and has said that scientific researches have revealed that Sanskrit can prove to be the most useful language for computers.

Dr Joshi was speaking at a function organised on the occasion of Lord Parshu Ram Jayanti at the local S.D. Senior Secondary School here yesterday. He said as the knowledge of Hindi enabled a person to connect himself with the motherland, English helped in establishing a link with the world, and the knowledge of Sanskrit paved the way for connecting the soul with the Almighty. Emphasising the need to promote Sanskrit, Dr Joshi said the use of Sanskrit with modern science could bring fruitful results as more than one crore manuscripts were lying in rural areas of the country. Computers could prove very useful in the transcription of these manuscripts, which were considered storehouses of knowledge, he said.

On the allegation of Opposition parties regarding change in school curricula, the minister said the curricula prepared in accordance with Lord Macauley’s report included distorted facts about Indian history and mythology. These distorted facts were got rectified by him, which the Opposition termed as “Bhagwakaran” of education.

Dr Joshi advised the farming community to minimise the use of chemical fertilisers and adopt bio-fertilisers. He highlighted the usefulness of cows and said the Indian economy could receive a boost if it was based on agriculture. He revealed that India had got an international patent on cow urine because of its medicinal value. Western countries were inclined on getting patents on turmeric, neem and tulsi, but India had opposed this move stating that these things were being grown in India for thousands of years, the reference of which could also be found in Vedas and Upanishads, the minister remarked.

Dr Joshi said Lord Parshu Ram was the sixth avatar of Lord Vishnu who is said to be the founder of habitation. Dr Joshi released a book, “Sankalp”, written by Parshu Ram Shastri. He also honoured people from the Brahmin Samaj for their achievements in various fields.

Ambala, May 5
Disability is no handicap. This holds true for the seven physically challenged persons, who were honoured for their outstanding contribution in their respective fields, at a state-level function in Panchayat Bhavan, here today.

The State Minister for Social Welfare, Mr Risal Singh, who was the chief guest at the function, disclosed that the Department of Social Justice and Empowerment had allocated a Rs 542 crore for various welfare schemes in 2003-2004. Of this, a sum of Rs 22.73 crore would be spent on the welfare and uplift of physically challenged persons in the state.

The first prize of Rs 5,000 was handed over to a visually impaired lecturer, Dharampal, from Karnal.The second prize of Rs 4,000 was given to Keshav Chander Wadhawan, Deputy Director, Public Relations. They were also given shields and letters of appreciations

The third prize of Rs 3,000 each was given to Rajkumar from Kaithal and Subhash from Sirsa. while the fourth prize of Rs 2,000 was given to Mukesh Kumar of Bhiwani and Shatrugan Prasad of Chandigarh.

Struck by polio at a young age, Mr Wadhawan walks with the support of callipers and crutches. Recipient of a national award, he has authored 21 books and written 1,000 articles. His book on short stories, “Tutti Pankhurion ki Sugandh” got award from the Haryana Sahitya Academy.

Mr Risal Singh highlighted the steps taken by the state government for the uplift of the poor and downtrodden sections .He pointed out that last year a sum of Rs 19.81 crore was spent to provide benefits under various welfare schemes to nearly 1 lakh physically challenged persons.

He called upon social and voluntary organisations to assist the state government in its ventures for the physically challenged.From the next year, there will be five prizes for each of the disabled categories, he added.

The Director of the Social WelfareDepartment, Mr T.C Sharma, stated that financial assistance was being provided to the physically challenged to generate self-employment for them. Vocational centres have also been set up to give them specialised training in various fields. He promised reservation for the physically challenged in jobs, free education upto the age of 18 years and scholarship .

Later, visually impaired students from Panipat, presented a colourful cultural programme. The minister also gave the participants cash prizes of Rs 500 each.

Sirsa, May 5
The level of groundwater in some regions of Haryana is falling, which is likely to hit farmers, who are already facing a financial crunch due to shrinking profit margins in crop cultivation. The groundwater level is falling at an alarming rate and the land may soon become barren. In some areas, the water level has gone down by about 40 ft.

One reason being attributed for this is the indiscreet use of water by farmers. Inadequate monsoons and long scorching summers have made the conditions worse for the farmers. Some believe that the plantation of poplar trees may also be one of the reasons for the speedy fall in the water level, because the skin of these trees is too thin to check evaporation.

Increasing cultivation costs and comparatively less monetary returns have put farmers under a financial crunch. Farmers heavily depend on pesticides and fertilisers and borrow money for machines and diesel. The inability to clear the debts at times forces them to resort to suicide.

A grain merchant, Gurdayal Singh, says farmers need to be educated about crop diversification. Another grain merchant, Som Parkash, says that the heavy dependence of farmers on tubewells is going to add to their woes.

Kurukshetra, May 5
Members of the Sarv Karmchari Sangh-affiliated Haryana Roadways Workers Union held a rally in front of the New Bus Stand here yesterday in protest against the proposed privatisation of the Haryana Roadways Department.

The demonstrators, marched in a procession towards Haryana Transport Minister Ashok Kumar Arora's residence, but were intercepted by the police on the way. The police rounded up over 350 employees and took them to the Police Lines. They were released after about three hours.

The employee leaders announced that they would organise demonstrations and gate meetings in front of all Haryana Roadways Depots in the state tomorrow.

The DSP, Mr Anil Dhawan, described the allegations against the police as baseless.

Ambala, May 5
A woman was run over by the Shatabdi Express at a railway crossing close to the Ambala City railway station today morning. The deceased was identified as
Deepa, a resident of Ambala City. Her husband is a businessman in the grain market.

According to information when she was passing through the railway crossing near the railway station, the Shatabdi Express arrived there which has no stoppage at the Ambala City railway station. The train hit her and she died on the spot.

The railway police reached the spot and sent the body to the local Civil Hospital for post mortem.

It was not the first incident on this railway crossing. A number of people lost their lives on this crossing during the past few years. The residents of the city have been demanding the construction of a over bridge for a long time.

Kaithal, May 5
The granting of permission for the construction of lawyers’ chambers in the district judicial complex here has paved the way for the restarting of the construction. It had been stopped when the district administration declared the construction illegal as administrative approval had not been obtained.

This was stated by Mr P.L. Bhardwaj, secretary of the District Bar Association, while talking to mediapersons here today. Due to the efforts of Mr Ram Pal Mazra, Chief Parliamentary Secretary, and Mr Leela Ram, MLA, Chief Minister Om Prakash Chautala had granted approval, he said.

Mr Bhardwaj said the courts started functioning from the complex on June 3. The lawyers had started the construction of 142 chambers by pooling in money without obtaining government sanction. The administration had objected and 100 lawyers had been booked.

A delegation of lawyers met the Chief Minister, who agreed to grant sanction.

Karnal, May 5
Over 300 telephones in the city are learnt to have gone ‘dead’ because of, sparking in the telephone exchange here today. The sparking in the system started around 11 am which damaged the mother board.

Telephone engineers were engaged in rectifying the fault. However, till about 7 pm, the fault could not be removed.